1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers
> 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river
estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes
(e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

RouenRouen (French pronunciation: ​[ʁwɑ̃]; Frankish: Rodomo;
Latin: Rotomagus, Rothomagus) is a city on the River
SeineSeine in the
north of France. It is the capital of the region of Normandy. Formerly
one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe,
RouenRouen was the seat of the
ExchequerExchequer of
NormandyNormandy during the Middle
Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties, which
ruled both
EnglandEngland and large parts of modern
FranceFrance from the 11th to
the 15th centuries.
The population of the metropolitan area (in French: agglomération) at
the 2011 census was 655,013, with the city proper having an estimated
population of 111,557. People from
RouenRouen are known as Rouennais.

Administration[edit]
RouenRouen and its metropolitan area of 70 suburban communes form the
Métropole
RouenRouen Normandie, with 494,382 inhabitants at the 2010
census. In descending order of population, the largest of these
suburbs are Sotteville-lès-Rouen, Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, Le
Grand-Quevilly, Le Petit-Quevilly, and Mont-Saint-Aignan, each with a
population exceeding 20,000.
History[edit]
Main articles:
History of RouenHistory of Rouen and Timeline of Rouen
Climate[edit]
RouenRouen has an oceanic climate (Cfb in the Koeppen climate
classification).

RouenRouen is known for its Notre Dame cathedral, with its Tour de Beurre
(butter tower) financed by the sale of indulgences for the consumption
of butter during Lent. The cathedral's gothic façade (completed in
the 16th century) was the subject of a series of paintings by Claude
Monet, some of which are exhibited in the
Musée d'OrsayMusée d'Orsay in Paris.
The
Gros HorlogeGros Horloge is an astronomical clock dating back to the 14th
century.[4] It is located in the
Gros HorlogeGros Horloge street.
Other famous structures include
RouenRouen Castle, whose keep is known as
the tour Jeanne d'Arc, where
Joan of ArcJoan of Arc was brought in 1431 to be
threatened with torture (contrary to popular belief, she was not
imprisoned there but in the since destroyed tour de lady Pucelle); the
Church of Saint
OuenOuen (12th–15th century); the Palais de Justice,
which was once the seat of the
ParlementParlement (French court of law) of
Normandy; the Gothic Church of St Maclou (15th century); and the
Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics which contains a splendid collection
of faïence and porcelain for which
RouenRouen was renowned during the 16th
to 18th centuries.
RouenRouen is also noted for its surviving half-timbered
buildings.
There are many museums in Rouen: the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen,
an art museum with pictures of well-known painters such as Claude
Monet and Géricault; the Musée maritime fluvial et portuaire, a
museum on the history of the port of
RouenRouen and navigation; Musée des
antiquités,[5] an art and history museum with local works from the
Bronze Age through the Renaissance, the Musée de la céramique and
the Musée Le Secq des Tournelles.
The
Jardin des Plantes de RouenJardin des Plantes de Rouen is a notable botanical garden once
owned by Scottish banker John Law dated from 1840 in its present form.
It was the site of Élisa Garnerin's parachute jump from a balloon in
1817.
In the centre of the Place du Vieux Marché (the site of Joan of Arc's
pyre)[6] is the modern church of St Joan of Arc. This is a large,
modern structure which dominates the square. The form of the building
represents an upturned viking boat and a fish shape.[7]
RouenRouen was also home to the French Grand Prix, hosting the race at the
nearby
Rouen-Les-EssartsRouen-Les-Essarts track sporadically between 1952 and 1968. In
1999
RouenRouen authorities demolished the grandstands and other remnants
of Rouen's racing past. Today, little remains beyond the public roads
that formed the circuit.

City transportation in
RouenRouen consists of a tram and a bus system. The
tramway branches into two lines out of a tunnel under the city centre.
RouenRouen is also served by TEOR (Transport Est-Ouest Rouennais) and by
buses run in conjunction with the tramway by TCAR (Transports en
commun de l'agglomération rouennaise), a subsidiary of Veolia
Transport.
RouenRouen has its own airport, serving major domestic destinations as well
as international destinations in Europe.
The
SeineSeine is a major axis for maritime cargo links in the Port of
Rouen. The Cross-Channel ferry ports of Caen, Le Havre,
DieppeDieppe (50
minutes) and Calais, and the
Channel TunnelChannel Tunnel are within easy driving
distance (two and a half hours or less).
Education[edit]
The main schools of higher education are the
University of RouenUniversity of Rouen and
the
École Supérieure de Commerce de RouenÉcole Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen (NEOMA Business School),
ésitpa (agronomy and agriculture), both located at nearby
Mont-Saint-Aignan, and the INSA Rouen,
ESIGELECESIGELEC and the CESI, both at
nearby Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray.
Performing arts[edit]
The main opera company in
RouenRouen is the Opéra de
RouenRouen - Normandie.
The company performs in the Théâtre des Arts, 7 rue du Docteur
Rambert. The company presents opera, classical and other types of
music, both vocal and instrumental, as well as dance performances.[8]
Every five years, the city hosts the large maritime exposition,
L'Armada.[9]
Notable people[edit]

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The character Erik, The Opera Ghost of Gaston Leroux's novel The
Phantom of the Opera, was supposedly born "in a small town not far
from Rouen".[14]
RouenRouen plays a major part in the
FlaubertFlaubert novel Madame Bovary.
Maupassant, a student of Flaubert, wrote a number of short stories
based in and around Rouen.
In book two of The Strongbow Saga, the Vikings invade and conquer
Ruda, also known as Rouen, and make it their base in Frankia.

The
RouenRouen area is an integral part of the work of French writer Annie
Ernaux.

May Wedderburn Cannan wrote of
RouenRouen in her 1915 poem on World War I
"Rouen".

Music[edit]

Referenced to in Puccini's one-act opera, Il tabarro. In the opera,
Luigi asks his boss, the barge owner Michele, to drop him off in Rouen
because he is secretly in love with Michele's wife, Giorgetta and
cannot stand to share her with him.
The British rock band
SupergrassSupergrass named their fifth studio album Road
to Rouen, punning on an Anglicised pronunciation of the city's name.
French band Les Dogs formed in
RouenRouen in 1973.
English rock band
Arcane Roots named a song on their EP Left Fire
'Rouen'.

Film[edit]
The 2000 film
The Taste of OthersThe Taste of Others was filmed and set in Rouen. In the
2001 movie A Knight's Tale, the protagonist William Thatcher (played
by Heath Ledger) poses as a noble and competes in his first jousting
tournament at Rouen. The 1952 film "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"
references the memoirs of Harry Street titled "The Road to Rouen" in
the scene with Harry and Uncle Bill.
Video games[edit]

The game
Call of Duty 3 features a map set in Rouen.
In the
Soul CaliburSoul Calibur series of fighting games, Raphael, a playable
character, is explained as being born in Rouen.
RouenRouen appears as an important location to protagonist Alice Elliot in
the game Shadow Hearts.
The
Rouen-Les-EssartsRouen-Les-Essarts Grand Prix circuit is featured in Grand Prix
Legends, Project CARS, and RFactor.
The PC adventure game Touché: The Adventures of the Fifth Musketeer
starts in Rouen.
Evan Bernard, a playable character from Time Crisis 4, is said to come
from Rouen.

Heraldry[edit]

The arms of
RouenRouen are blazoned :
Gules, a pascal lamb, haloed and contorny, holding a banner argent
charged with a cross Or, and on a chief azure, 3 fleurs de lys Or
This may be rendered, "On a red background a haloed white pascal lamb
looking back over its shoulder (contorny) holds a white banner bearing
a gold cross; above, a broad blue band across the top bears 3 gold
fleurs de lis".
On the front of the "Grand Poste" (rue Jeanne d'Arc), the banner is
charged with a leopard (the lion passant seen on Norman and English
arms). This was the official seal of
RouenRouen at the beginning of the
12th century, before
NormandyNormandy was incorporated into Capetian France